At least, that’s according to Google, which announced that as of April 21, 2015, it had made a drastic update to its algorithms, which now rank sites that are mobile-friendly higher than those that aren’t.

This change was dubbed “Mobilegeddon” by some techie pundit somewhere, and the moniker spread far and wide. Why the doomy overtones? Because for businesses whose website are not mobile-friendly, it could be a catastrophe that, while it won’t end the world, could dry up the traffic to your website quickly.

Google’s algorithms are closely held secrets and even the most tech-savvy webmaster can’t crack them. But along with announcing that mobile-friendly sites would rank higher in searches, Google also specifically mentioned that websites that are not mobile-friendly will no longer show up in mobile searches.

On its Webmaster Central Blog, the company said, “Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”

Google has hinted that there are no halfway mobile-friendly websites. According to an article on Search Engine Journal, “Mobile-friendliness is not ranked on a scale – your site is either mobile friendly, or it isn’t. Your site has to fully pass Google’s criteria in order to be considered mobile-friendly.”

Is this just fear mongering? What if you don’t rely on Google for your web traffic? Whether Mobilegeddon is truly the life-changing event it’s predicted to be or not, mobile-friendliness has its advantages. People are increasingly using their mobile devices rather than desktop PCs to search for information and businesses online. This means that whether you’re looking for search engine traffic or not, it’s a good idea to be ready for mobile.